God’s Gift? Sacred Relics, Gift Giving, and Luisa de Carvajal’s Preparation of the Holy During the Long Reformation

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Regardless of the Reformation’s attack on the allegedly superstitious practices of later medieval Catholicism, during the Counter Reformation the reverence of holy relics became ever more pronounced. This article looks at the theology behind relic making and the scientific processes by which body parts were preserved, making special reference to Luisa de Carvajal’s activities in Jacobean London. It places the traffic in relics in the anthropological context of gift-exchange, and especially recent discussions of “the free gift”.